The Demon Venerable Is Delicate and Charming (GL) Chapter 31

The skull was not small, and it had some weight in Feng Luan’s hand. The white bone had been badly corroded, covered in pits of every size. Dried blood seemed embedded in it, giving off an unnatural sheen. Looking carefully, one could even see dense, lifeless eyes hidden in the little holes, staring at Feng Luan without blinking. The skull’s mouth opened and closed. Its silent words slowly turned into a spine-chilling scream.
Everything went quiet in an instant.
Everyone’s eyes fell on Feng Luan. At first, he did not move. His two ears reacted first, springing up. He pressed his lips together. For once, a trace of displeasure showed on his face. He weighed the skull in his hand, then pressed it hard against the nearby stone wall. His tone was full of disgust. “So ugly.”
“…”
Feng Luan did not notice that many people’s eyes had changed. He crushed it into a pile of fragments with great force, then took out a handkerchief and carefully wiped his hand. Only after a while did he notice that the air around him was not right.
Li Lingjiang and the others were used to this. The main issue was Wen Si’s group. Many of them now looked at Feng Luan with a hint of awe, staring at him with fear and curiosity. Feng Luan’s body stiffened. His face did not show it, but his ears were almost hot enough to cover his whole face.
“Everyone, be careful.” Wen Si came back to himself and warned them loudly. Then he struggled upward, supporting himself against the stone wall and trying not to look too awkward. He asked, “Are there other special creatures on this mountain?”
Wuzhi leaned against Ling Xin and nodded. “Yes.”
Ling Xin’s tone carried a few parts malice. “Did you come to No-Return Mountain without doing any preparation? The first bend of the mountain is just ahead. Be careful.”
He did not actually know exactly what was there.
Ling Xin looked silently at Li Lingjiang and asked with his eyes. After receiving it, she also shook her head lightly.
Yin Wu took all of this in. She leaned closer. “My Lord, you do not know either?”
“I do not.” Li Lingjiang explained, “When I came in the past, I did not often take this road. Also, I wore the demon ring then, so Beiluan Mountain would not attack me. Even now, it is somewhat lenient with me. I truly never learned the details of what is here.”
Yin Wu said, “Oh,” and thoughtfully looked upward a few times.
The group did not stop for long, but everyone became much more careful. They pressed their bodies inward and clutched the robe of the person in front of them. Tang Wusuo bent at the waist, working hard to lead those behind him. Just as he steadied himself, he felt something was wrong. He patted the person in front of him and asked in a low voice, “Did you hear something?”
“No.”
Tang Wusuo listened again with patience and muttered, “Did I hear wrong? But there was clearly the sound of stones rolling.” His voice stopped. He slowly turned his stiff neck and looked up. A skull exactly like the one from before hung right above his head. A puddle of clear liquid flowed from its empty eye sockets, fell onto his shoulder, and spread outward.
His right shoulder went cold. Nervously, he swallowed. He had just been about to speak when he saw a huge eyeball burst out of the skull’s open mouth. It was fresh and lively, with faintly pulsing veins on it. Its pupil was hollow and blank, yet it still caught his presence without error. It even faintly reflected his figure.
Tang Wusuo staggered back a few steps and barely stopped at the edge.
His movement successfully drew other people’s attention. Many people noticed something wrong. The eyeball rolled, and a wave of startled cries covered the sound of red thread striking the skull and cracking bone. In an instant, the skull shattered. The eyeball also turned into mist and scattered.
Tang Wusuo looked in shock at Yin Wu, who calmly withdrew the red thread. Full of gratitude, he nodded to her.
Before anyone could recover, a huge rolling sound came from above, as if the entire mountain were trembling. Many people had just lifted their heads when they saw eyeballs hanging from skulls. Screams spread across the whole mountain at once.
Wuzhi looked at the dense eyeballs and felt sick in a very physical way. They had already reached the bend. Beiluan Mountain’s stone steps ran through the whole mountain, spiraling upward, but because of the mountain’s shape, it was far more dangerous. He saw Ling Xin silently pull back the foot he had stepped out with, tuck his hands into his sleeves, and stare speechlessly at the scene before them.
“What kind of demon creature is this? Why have I never heard of it?” Wuzhi stood beside him.
Ling Xin was silent for a moment. “They are called demon balls.”
“Demon balls?” Wuzhi remembered something and did not quite believe it. “Are they not fluffy things that hop around? Is one name used for two creatures?”
Ling Xin paused again. “No. That is what they look like after growing up. This is their young form.”
Wuzhi: “…”
For once, he did not answer at once. After a pause, he asked, “Does that puddle of liquid do any harm?”
“No. They are simply drooling.”
Wuzhi gave a dry laugh. After a speechless moment, he walked forward and dragged Feng Luan out from behind his ears. “Tell them there is no need to be afraid.”
Feng Luan lifted one eyelid, swept a glance over them, then quickly closed it again. “No need. They can solve it.”
No one knew who started it. Perhaps someone was too frightened and directly pulled down a skull to throw it off the mountain. After discovering that the skulls were not very strong, everyone began plucking them off like fruit and throwing them with growing skill. Yin Wu’s red thread fell to the ground as she watched them with curiosity. Li Lingjiang’s lips moved slightly. She took small steps to the edge and leaned over to look down. Just as she steadied herself, someone seized her wrist.
“My Lord, be careful.”
Li Lingjiang gently broke free and answered, “It is fine.”
The demon balls disappeared after being thrown down. No sound of landing could be heard. More than a hundred were cleared away quickly. Tang Wusuo played with the copper coins in his hand. He sniffed the shoulder soaked with saliva, but did not smell anything foul.
He found a bit of fun in it. “Do not laugh, but that was pretty satisfying.”
A female cultivator said with disgust, “Satisfying? It was disgusting. It nearly got saliva on me. You should change your clothes. Who knows what is in that stuff?”
Tang Wusuo hesitated. Each of them had a small storage item, though it was not big and could only hold some clothing. After thinking about it, he felt she had a point. He quickly took off his outer robe and changed into a clean one, then casually threw the dirty robe down.
Ling Xin did not miss this. He clicked his tongue in displeasure. “Throwing trash around?”
Tang Wusuo froze and scratched his head. “Then… should I go down and pick it up?”
“No need. Just remember next time.” Ling Xin snorted, but in the end said nothing more.
The small episode passed, and they still had to keep climbing. The sky was growing darker, so they needed to find a place to stop ahead of time.
Li Lingjiang frowned slightly, feeling that something was wrong. She kept part of her attention behind them. When she exchanged looks with the others, she saw concern in all their eyes.
Yin Wu stood very close to Li Lingjiang. She stretched out her hand for Li Lingjiang to see. “My Lord, look.”
A little flame slowly rose in the young immortal’s palm. It grew larger and larger, almost spreading across her whole palm. Li Lingjiang cooperated and looked closely. Blue-purple fire swayed, reflected in both their eyes. The flame gradually changed shape, like a flower. Yin Wu began closing her palm and brought it toward Li Lingjiang.
Li Lingjiang did not dodge. She watched calmly and even prepared to reach out to take it. She had learned this little trick of condensing flame into a solid object long ago. But when her fingers were about to touch it, she realized it had not become solid. Instead, her hand could pass through it. She reached forward, and her hand almost overlapped with Yin Wu’s.
In the next second, Yin Wu suddenly caught her hand. The flame in their palms turned into fireworks. Sparks scattered in all directions with a different kind of beauty. Li Lingjiang looked at the small fireworks leaping up and could not help laughing softly.
Yin Wu also smiled at her. Her fingers were long and slender. She did not deliberately lace them with Li Lingjiang’s fingers, only gently holding her hand. When the fireworks vanished, she let go.
Feng Luan, walking ahead, saw the scene clearly and raised one brow. He looked amused. “Yin Wu really is good at making people happy.”
He rubbed two fingers together and formed a little water rabbit. Wuzhi could not bear to watch and covered his hand. “Forget it. Do not embarrass yourself. You have no one to coax.”
Feng Luan: “… Get lost.”
Ling Xin also could not help laughing. His body moved lightly as he leaped past the bend and successfully reached the back side of the mountain. The stone steps seemed to narrow somewhat, and the mist grew heavier. It was clear that the temperature had dropped. The sharp wind struck the body with a stinging, numbing pain.
He walked a few steps forward. The pressure was much lighter. He lightly brushed the stone wall with his fingertips, then bent a finger and tapped it. “Something feels wrong. The aura here is much gloomier. Tell My Lord to stay back.”
Feng Luan’s ears were blown backward by the wind. Several times, they nearly hit Wuzhi. Annoyed, Wuzhi grabbed Feng Luan’s ears and stuffed them into his collar. “Can you put them away?”
“I do not want to.” Feng Luan found a hair tie from somewhere and tied his ears up. “This makes the fur grow faster.”
Wuzhi: “…”
He took a deep breath and ignored him. He turned to look for Li Lingjiang, only to find that she and Yin Wu had already slipped into the crowd and moved several steps back.
Li Lingjiang had stopped before approaching the bend. Yin Wu did not ask why. Instead, she started a conversation. “My Lord.”
Li Lingjiang did not answer at once. She opened the Jade-Bone Fan and covered half her face. The eyes left visible slowly gained a faint blood color. She breathed out, touched the space beside her with her fingertips, and murmured with pressed lips, “Let us go.”
Since earlier, both of them had felt a gaze tightly following them.
They turned sideways and moved against the crowd. Yin Wu lightly shielded Li Lingjiang, her movements not obvious. When they passed Tang Wusuo, her expression sharpened. Very naturally, she gripped his shoulder. “You did well.”
Her fingers tightened. Hidden from everyone’s sight, she silently crushed the eye stuck to his back.
Tang Wusuo froze at the praise. Then he smiled with some self-satisfaction and waved his hand. “I will keep working hard.”
Yin Wu curved her lips in a casual smile, returning the courtesy. She tucked her hand into her sleeve. Sticky liquid covered her hand, and it was rather disgusting.
She forced herself not to show it. Only when she reached Qi San did she accept the handkerchief Li Lingjiang handed her and wipe her hand carefully. “Only him?”
Qi San shook his head. His voice became hollow. “There were several, but I got rid of them.”
“Do these eyes serve any purpose?” Qi San slowly turned his head. The eyes hidden beneath his black robe carried a deathly air.
Li Lingjiang lowered her eyes. Her finger bones tightened. In the next instant, with a cold air, she casually threw the Jade-Bone Fan behind her. The movement did not seem to use much force. Her eyes did not ripple as she slowly said, “If we do not know, then we ask.”